Improvement in nail-plate feeders



Z Shee'as-Sheet1l J. NEWELL. NAIL-PLATE-FEEDER.

Patented June 20,1876.

Em WAS Z Sheets-*Sheety 2.

J. NEWELL.

. NAIL-PLATE FEEDER. 110.178.873. Patented :une zo, 187s.

JOHN NEWELL, OF. DETROIT, MIOHIGYAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN NAIL-PLATE FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 178,873, dated June 20, 187.6; application filed December 18, 1875.

T o all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN NEWELL, of De troit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Nail-Plate Feeders for Nail-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a top plan of the nailplate feeder as it appears when connected to, and working in co-operationv with, a nail-machine, that receives the blank and forms it into a perfect nail. Fig. 2 represents a perspective View of the nail-plate feeder, a portion of its frame being represented as broken away, to better show the working parts, otherwise concealed by said frame. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal vertical section, taken through the machine, as shown at Fig. 1. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, S, 9, and l() represent detached portions of the mechanism not clearly seen in the other figures.

' The object and purpose of this machine are to take nail-plates one by one from a pile de` posited in a. stationary' receptacle or magazinc, and feed them up in succession to the cutter of any ordinary nail-machine, wherein the cut-off portions or blanks are formed into nails, without attendance, except to supplya pile of plates, from time to time, to the receptacle or magazine.

The operation, in brief, is as follows: A pile of plates being placed inthe magazine, the under plate of the pile ismoved into the line of direction ofthe feeding, and is pushed out of the stationary magazine into the sheath. The sheath moves it forward to the knives of the nail-machine, and after a piece has been out off from the fore end for a nail, said sheath carries the plate back, for the double purpose of turning it over or the other side up, and of pushing it forward within the sheath as much as the breadth of a nail, by pressing the rear end of the plate against the advancing feedrod. Y

My invention consists in the combinations of mechanisms hereidafter more particularly referred to, for carrying out the object an purpose of the machine. l

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed todescribe the same, with reference to the draws lugs. v

0n the frame A, of any ordinary well-known nail-machine, is arranged a shaft, B, which is driven from the nail-machine or from the iirst drivin g-poiver, but timed to run with the nailmachine. This shaft -B carries a gear, C, that Worksin and turns a gear, D, on a second shaft, E, and upon one end of this shaft E there is a bevel-gear, F, that meshes with a similar bevel-gear, Gr, on the shaft H, giving motionl to said shaft, and through it to all the moving mechanisms of the nailplate feeder.

The frame I of the nail-plate feeder is ad- `iustably connected to the frame A of the nailmachine by screw-rods J, on the former, attached to brackets K on the latter frame, by which the nail-plate feeder may be adjusted to or from the cutters L-Of the nail-machine, a slip-joipt being made in the line of the shaft H, as at M, to admit of this adjustment, and still keep up the timed motions of the feeder.

On the end of the shaft H there is a bevelgear, N, that meshes with and drives a similar gear, 0, on a crank-shaft, P, and from the crank of this shaft the sheath Q, that carries and turns the nail-plate, and the several .me-

chanical appliances that work in connectionwith it, as will be hereafter explained, are operated.

.To the crank of the crank-shaft Pthere is attached a pitman, It, loy-one of its ends, the other end thereof beinghinged to a cross-head, S, that slides, by the turning of said crank, upon guide rods or ways T T in the frame I and to the cross-head S there is also hinged a second pitman, U, which projects into a second cross-head, V, which also slides, whenit is in action, upon the guides or Ways T. Connected to or with the cross-head V, and to or with the second pitm'an U, there is a connecting and disconnecting mechanism, (shown at a, Fig. 3,) which, while the nail-plate is being fed up to the nail-machine, holds the pitman U to the cross-head V, and causes the latter to traverse on its ways; but when a nail-plate is cut up, andthe sheath is placed in position for receiving a fresh nail-plate from the magthe grooves is better shown.

azine or holder, then the pitman U is disconnected from the cross-head V, and this allows the gearing to continue in motion, but without moving the cross-head "V or the sheath Q, as the latter must then remain at rest.

AThe connecting and disconnecting mechanism above referred to consists of a pivoted bell-crank lever, having two arms, a a', which is held to the pitman U by a spring, b, causing the cross-head and pitman to move together, but when the sheath is to be furnished with a fresh nail-plate, a trigger, c, is raised up automatically, and when the arm a' of the bell-crank comes against it, by the backward movement of the cross-head V, the conmeeting-arm a ot' the bell-crank is raised up, and disconnects the pitman and cross-head, the latter remaining stationary, and the former 'playing through it; and at the same time that the pitman and cross-head are disconnected, a spring-stop, d, comes into action and stops the cross-head positively from any reciprocation.

To the extremities of the cross-head V are attached connecting-rods W W, which, extending forward, connect with a cross-head, X, which supports the sheath Q, and in which cross-head the sheath can turn by means of a grooved collar, e, on the sheath working against V-shaped bearings in the cross-head. As the cross-head V moves back and forth, it moves in a similar manner the cross-head X and the sheath Q, but as the sheath moves Aback and forth it has a rotatory motion imparted to it, so as to turn over the nail-plate at every reciprocation, and this is accomplished Y by means of `projections f f on the sheath taking into angular grooves g g inthe hub of the disks Y, and so turning the sheath during its reciprocation. The grooves g are shown at Fig. S, and the entire' hub in a spread-out form is shown at Fig. 9, by which the form of There are switches h, (shown separate and in perspective at Figs. 6, 7, and bydotted lines in .position ,at Figs.8 and 9,) which work in connection with the grooves g, as well as `in connection Iwith the straight grooves fi in the hub ot' the disks Y, so as to guide the projeetionsffinto the proper grooves for rotating the sheath, or

into the grooves fi, when it is to move back to receive a fresh nail-plate and without rotating.

Motion is transmitted to the feeding apparatus from the shaft H by means ot' a bevel-gear, l, mounted upon said shaft, meshing with a similar gear, 2, on the inclined shaft 3, upon which is mounted the worm-wheel 4, which `latter meshes with the cog-wheel 5, attached to one endof the screw-shaft 6, that advances the feed-rod H'. This feed-rod is attached to a cross-head or carriage, P', `mounted upon the guides or ways T. It carries on its under side a switch-pin, 7c, that enters the grooves of the screw-shaft 6, by which it is advanced slowly for ward by its taking the slow threads or grooves, and rapidly backward by follow ing the long groove.

The pile of 'plates is placed between the side A' of the magazine and the vertical rod B' near the fore end, and betweenthe'two lrods or plates C' D', the under plate resting near its fore end on an eminence at *"while between the rods or plates C and D( 1t rests on the sliding sleeve F', when that sleeve is G', so that the endot' the sleeve F' may fairly encounter the edge of the plate when it moves to push the back end of the plate into the line of the direction of feeding.

The fore end ofthe pile as originally deposited is directly over the line of direction of feeding. At the appropriatetime, the sleeve F', which has previously been drawn back, permitting the under plate to drop upon the edge ofthe rod G', moves forward, encounters the edge of that plate," and pushes it into the line of direction of feeding, so that it lies upon the feed-rod H'. Soon afterward the feed- Arod H' moves backward, until its fore end has passed out of the magazine, permitting the plate to drop down upon the iioor ot' the magazine with its rear end in front of the feedrod H', and its fore end near the aperture or slit in the fore end of the magazine through rod G' is somewhat greater than the thickness i of a nail-plate, but less than the thickness of two, so permitting only one to pass at a time.

The sheath Q is a tube, having two longitudinal'grooves to guide theplate, the inside diameter being large enough for the feed-rod H to pass through. One oi' these grooves is furnished Vat its fore end with a spring, l,

slightly longer than the opposite groove, to press upon the edge ofthe nail-plate,-holding its opposite edge `against the bottom ot' the opposite groove iirinly enoughto comm unicatc toit the longitudinal reciprocating movement y ofthe sheath, and to overcome the resistance of the gage-spring near the cutter when the end of the plate is pressed against it. Supposing a plate to havebeen pushed into the sheath Q and being fed to the cutters: after a cut, the sheath is drawn back, the plate meets the end of the feed-rod H', and is moved forward in the sheath the breadth ofva nail, then carried forward toward the knives. A short distance before the `plate reaches the knives, the side of the nose of the sheath and the edge ofthe plate, or the edge of the plate, encounters obliquely a spring, R', which diverts the nose of the sheath sidcwise until the which the sleeve travels.

opposite side of the 4nose comes against a guide or roller, S', attached to the cutter-frame near the edge of the stationary knife, ou the side where the head of the nail is to be formed, placing the edge of the plate that is to furnish the head ofthe nail in the same position on the stationary knife at the time of each cut, and so providinga. length uniform on the blanks for the heads.

In order that 'all the nails may have the same slope from head to point it is necessary that the rear end ot' the sheath should move sidewise as much, or nearly so, as the nose. This can be effected by connecting both ends of one ot' the guide-rods N' by two equal levers, T'; these guide-rods, with the disks Y rigidly attached to them, being allowed suicient lateral movement in their seats in the brackets by which they are connected to the frame I. Thus the guide-rods N' and the disks Y, encircling the grooved eyinder, and the sheath with its collar, have an equal lateral movement throughout from the nose of the sheath to the back end of the cylinder. edge ot' the plate being thus placed into position for furnishing the proper amount of metal for the head, it is carried forward between the knives, the blank is cut off, and the crank P draws the sheath back, the lugs ofthe sheath traveling for a short distance in straight slots, as shown in Figs. S and 9, in which the spiral ones terminate at the fore end; then encountering the .latches h, which have closed the spiral slots in which the lugs f made their forward movement, as well as the two straight ones parallel to the axis, they are guided into the other spiral slots, receiving as they move a rotary motion, which is partaken of by the plate, amounting to a quarter of a turn in the course ot' the backward movement. Just before the end of this backward movement the plate encounters Vthe end ot' the feed rod H', which has been moving up, is pushed forward in the sheath the breadth ot' a nail, the lugs or projections f of the sheath following the second pair ot' spiral slots, (the first pair being closed by the latches,) so that when they get back nearthe forward end of the cylinder they will have completed the half-revolution. Before the end ofthe operation of feeding up a sheet the pin V', on top ot' the crosshead P', of the feed-rod, entering the slot in the lever W', moves the sliding sleeve F' back clear of the pile of plates, so that they drop, and the under one rests on the rod Gr' upon After the last nail has been cut out of a sheet the piece of scrap in the succeeding backward movement of the` sheath encounters the feeding rod, and is' pushed out, and the'instant its edge is clear of the bottom of the slot the spring l snaps it-z The` an instant after it is relieved from its support in the groove onA the opposite side of the. sheath. This may be eii'ected by pushing the opposite edge of .the remnant out from the sheath in advance of the edge in'contact with the spring, or by making the spring a little longer `than the opposite side of the sheath. I use both together, but either one is sufficient with ordinary plates. The feedrod then begins its backward movement, during which time another plate is moved into the line of direction of the feed, on top of the feed-rod, the rotation of the sheath and its longitudinal reciprocating movement being suspended preparatory to the reception of another plate. To move a new plate in line to be fed, the pin V', in withdrawing from the slot of the lever W', throws the sleeve F' laterally toward the line of feed, carrying before it the under one of the pile of plates until its further edge is near the further dside of the v magazine, when the sleeve stops and the plate lies on the feed-rod.

In the progress of the feed-rod backward a lug, X, extending downward from the crosshead P', acts on a lever, X2, that opens and holds open the two triangularlatches h at the fore ends of the spiral slots g in the hub of the disks Y, the latch underneath being opened directly by the end ot' the lever X2, while the upper latch is opened by a second'lever, X3, operated from the first one by a connecting-rod, a. These two latches being held open, the next time the sheath is drawn back by the crank P, its lugsf, no longer encountering the latches to interrupt their movement in a straight line, enter the two slots that are parallel tothe axis.

Immediately after the lugs of the sheath enter the straight slots the reciprocating motion of the sheath is suspended by a lug, Y',

attached to one end of the cross-head-P',

sheath, causing the bell-crank vto move on its v gudgeons inA the cross-head V, which carries the back ends of the two rods W, disengaging the clevis a by an upward movement from the fore en d of the pitman U, sothat the crank P, although continuing its revolutions,

lleaves the sheath at rest in its extreme backward position, with its grooves directly in front of the ends of the aperture in the front .end of the magazine.

The pivoted lever or trigger c, which is attached to and raises, when its fore end is depressed, the stop o', to lift the bell-crank clev. is a, also presents a stop, d, for preventing any forward movement ot'- the cross-head V,

-either from gravity or friction of the -nail-plate when entering the slot of the sheath Q, attached to cross-head X, which is connected -saidslots inl one direction. `head P' advances, the lug X1 and` pin q turn 'connected by a vertical lever.'

with the said cross-head V by the rods w. The lug y',attached to the crosshead P', carries a small pin, q, which enters a notch in a disk, 19,` provided with stubs p', which stubs act as cams to tilt the lever or trigger c, and thus either elevate or depress the stop c' attached to said lever.

When the cross-head P', carrying the feeding-rod H', retreat-s, in order to let a new nail-plate fall upon the Hoor of the magazine, the pin q enters the notch and causes the disk p and stubs p' thereon to rotate and act upon `the fore end of lever c, depressing it -and `bringing the stop c' of said lever into action,

which causes, as the said cross-head continues its retreat, the arm a' of the bell-crank lever a to tip forward and raise said lever, and disconnect the pitman U and cross head V. When, however, the cross-head V' advances to feed the nailplate into the sheath, the pin q turns the disk p and stubs p in the reverse direction, and the said stubs cause the lever or trigger, with stops c c', to returnto itsnormal position. V

The bearing-surfaces of' the clevis and the pitman are slightly beveled, so that the clevis may pass freely down in front of the pitman when coming into action, but come, finally, into perfect contact, and preclude any lost motion of the pitman between the clevis and the bearing of the shoulder ofthe 4pitman against the cross-head, by which shoulder the pitman communicates its backward movement to the cross-head V, rods W, cross-head X, and the sheath Q. y

When the feed-rod is ready 'to push the plate out of the magazine into the sheath, the 1n gs Xl Y' upon the cross-head P' have reached the point where they are disengaged from their respective levers, the first permitting the latches l1. at the fore-ends of the slots g to close When the crossthe caln-disk p, as before stated, allowing the clevis a to enage the pitman U, and the sheath to resume its reciprocating 'and rotary movements.

The service performed by the two lugs X1 and Y' with their levers may be performed by one lug and lever.

To make sure that the edge of the scrap on the opposide side from the spring Z shall pass ont a little iu advance of the edge in contact with the springa condition which enables it `to be snapped in the most desirable directiontwo slides, r r, Fig. .5, are placed in grooves lin 4the fore-end of .the feed-rod, one on the upper surface, the other on the lower, When the sheath makes its backward movement to push Vthe scrap out, a projection on the `interior of the sheath, near its nose, or on the spring l, encountering the under slide r, causes the upper one to move forward on the rod, and start the scrap out at that point.

To prevent the featheredge sometimes left on the plate from holding to the stationary knife when the plate isl drawn back, the guiderods N' are so set as to carry the plate a little above the knife, and, by theirV elasticity, lift the plateas soon as the two edges meet.

The spring Z at the nose of the sheath is made to comeon the under sideevery time when the scrap is to bepnshed out by allowi' a V- shaped dog attached to the cross-head, and

fitting into a notch of the same shape in the top of the feed-rod, into which it is pressed by a spring. 4

` It is obvious that a guide-plate could he fastened to the frame near the stationary cutter L in place of the roller S' without departing from the spirit of my invention; and I may i add that, in lieu of using the tWoequa-l levers T' with the sheath to give the same slope from head to point of the nails, I have used a long rod fastened to the side of the machine, near the rear of it, and connected its fore-end with the sheath, and found `it to produce nearly the same results as furnished vers T'.

Having thus fully described the construe tion and operation of the' machinefor feeding nail-plates, what I claim therein -as new,aud desire to secure by` Letters Patent, is- 1. The sheath Q, provided with internal longitudinal grooves to guide the nail-plates', and a central open in g for the admission of the feedrod, in combination with outside lugs f, anda grooved collar, e, to guide it in its longitudinal and rotatory motions, substantially as `described.

2. In a nail-,platefeeding machine, in combination with a sheath carrying the plate, a spring, Z, acting on the edge or side ofthe y tain said sheath at rest whilel introducing a new nail-plate, substantially as described.

5. In comhinationwith the sheath Q and grooved hub of the disksY, the two equal levers T', connected, to the front and rear end of said hub by means of .the rods N', so as to give a uniform slope to the cut nails, substan- `tially as described.

by the equal le- 6. In combination with the sheath Q, guiding-grooves g and i, and latches h, the latchopening-and-closing mechanism, composed of levers X2, operated by the lug X1, substanl bell-crank clevis a, to connect or disconnect the sheath-moving cross-head V from the pitman U of the machine, substantially as described and represented.

8. In combination with the feed-rod H', connected to the cross-head P' by a V-shaped spring-dog, the screw-shaft 6, when revolved by means of a worm-wheel, substantially as and in the manner specified.

9. In combination with the sheath Q, and spring Z, the two slides 1' r of the feed-rod, constructed and operated substantially as shown and described..

10. In combination with the sheath Q, and feed-rod operated by the screw of a nail-platefeeding machine, the guide or roller S, to guide the nail-plate while being fed up to the cutters, substantially as described.

11. 1n combination with the magazine that holds the nail-plates and eminence E', the sliding sleeve F' and lever W', operated substantially as and for the purpose described.

l2. In a nail-plate-feeding machine, in combination with a magazine for containing a pile of nail-plates, a mechanism for transferring them automatically in succession to the feeding mechanism, and a feeding' mechanism moving the plate forward, sidewise, and turning it, a guide, S', for limiting the lateral movement of the nail-plate, whereby that edge of the plate which is tofurnish the head is adjusted to the same place each time, so as to give uniformity7 of sizeto the heads, substantially as described.

13. In a nail-plate-feeding machine, in combination with a magazine for containing a pile of nail-plates, which are transferred automatically in succession to the feeding mechanism, a mechanism for turning, directing, and presenting theplate to the action of the knives, and a guide, S', a feed-rod, H', operating to carry the plate out from the magazine to the feeding mechanism, substantially as described. i

14.. In combination With the guide S', the sheath, and the feed-rod, the magazine for containing a pile of nail-plates, from which the under one is removed and fed automatically to the cutters, substantially as described.

15.- In combination with the guide S' and the sheath for guiding and` turning over the nail-plate, and the feed-rod, constructed as specified, the switch-pin k, and screw-shaft 6, substantially as set forth.

16. In a nail-plate-feeding machine, in combination with amagazine for containing a pile of nail-plates, which are transferred automatically in succession to the feeding mechanism, a mechanism for turning and carrying the plate between the knives, and a guide, S', a feed-rod, operating to feed the plate forward in the jaws of the sheath, which insert it between the knives, substantially as set forth.

17. In a nail-plate-feeding machine, in combination with a magazine for containing a pile of nail-plates to be transferred automatically in succession to the feeding mechanism, an eminence, E', in connection with two others, or more, to support the bottom plate of the pile of plates in proper positions for removal from the pile, substantially as described.

18. Ina nail-plate-feeding machine, in combination with a magazine for containing a pile of nail-plates to be transferred automatically in succession to the 4feeding mechanism, a mechanism for turning and feeding the plate to the knives, and a guide, S', the screw-shaft 6, made to revolve in unison with the feeding mechanism by connected gearing, operating with the switch-pin lc tomove the feed-rod.

19. In combination with a magazine for containing a pile of plates, a mechanism for transferring them automatically in succession to the feeding mechanism, and a guide, S', the jaws of the sheath, which communicate to the plate a longitudinal, rectilinear, reciprocating movement in one direction to present it toy the action of the knives, and in the other to withdraw it from interference with the bedknife and its frame while turning.

JOHN NEWELL. Witnesses:

E. E. MASSON, W. B. MASSON.' 

